Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies

The organization and structure of British colonial governments in America shared many attributes. While each of the Thirteen Colonies destined to become the United States had its own history and development, over time common features and patterns emerged in the structure and organization of the governments.

By the time of the American Revolution in 1775, most of these features applied to most of the colonies.

Conflict

The perennial struggles between governors and the Assemblies are sometimes taken as symptoms of a rising democratic spirit. However, these assemblies represented only the privileged classes, and were protecting the colony against executive encroachments. Legally, a governor's authority was unassailable. In resisting that authority, assemblies resorted to justification by arguments from natural rights and general welfare, giving life to the notion that governments derived, or ought to derive, their authority from the consent of the governed. but sometimes people get off eachothers nerves

See also

• American Revolution
• Colonial history of the United States
• Proprietary colony
• Proprietary Governor
• Proprietary House
• Executive Council of New Hampshire
• Massachusetts Governor's Council

Further reading

• Andrews, Charles M. Colonial Self-Government, 1652-1689 (1904) full text online
• Andrews, Charles M. The Colonial Period of American History (4 vol. 1934-38), the standard overview to 1700
• Cooke, Jacob Ernest, ed. Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies (3 vol 1993), compares British, French, Spanish and Dutch colonies
• Dinkin, Robert J. Voting in Provincial America: A Study of Elections in the Thirteen Colonies, 1689-1776 (1977)
• Hawke, David F.; The Colonial Experience; 1966, ISBN 0-02-351830-8. textbook
• Middleton, Richard, and Anne Lombard. Colonial America: A History to 1763 (4th ed. 2011) excerpt and text search
• Osgood, Herbert L. The American colonies in the seventeenth century, (3 vol 1904-07). vol 3 online
• Osgood, Herbert L. The American colonies in the eighteenth century (4 vol, 1924-25)